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The Better Siblings
---- "Well... that was easy." The man said as he stepped on the door that had fallen into the room in front of him, no explosions or anything like that but a simple knock was al it took to bring it down. Seeing as the room was pitch black with the exception of the small light source provided by his torch, Nero took a few steps in and raised it as to get a better view of the room itself. His lips formed a small circle as it suddenly started to create that sharp sound which would echo across to his environment. "Neat place..." Nero was impressed by the architecture as it appeared from a time long passed at this point, but it didn't last long as he took note of the large tomb-like casket at the center of the room. "Ohh baby, thank you history lessons!" The mage announced as he started making his way over, not even paying attention to the skeletons that littered the room around him. Hovering the torch over the casket as soon as he reached it, Nero's interest peaked as it didn't appear to be any inscriptions to it at all. Placing the torch down next to him, the young man went on to clasp his fingers together and stretch them forward, only to follow it up by reaching down to one knee and lean his body to the opposite end before doing the same for the other. This went on for a few goods minutes until he felt ready. Finally, Nero grasped the very edge of the casket and started shoving it, "Holy Spirits this shit is heavy!" he exclaimed as he continued on before the entire thing had been removed. Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Nero placed his hands on each side of his hips before looking down to see what's inside. To his surprise, appeared to be that of a body. One that had been neatly preserved as if they had simply taken an afternoon nap. Scratching his chin as he let out another sigh, this wasn't what he'd been hoping for. "Maybe some ol' museum or doctor would wanna examine it or something... No treasure though. That sucks." The body's eyes shot open as soon as the lid was removed, air from the outside quickly revitalizing his body as he arose from his apparent slumber. The body was that of a dark-skinned man who looked to be around his early twenties, dressed in a dark red robe holding a necklace bearing a strange emblem. His black messy hair covered his face, but behind the strands were two red eyes the peered cautiously around. Only a few seconds would pass until he the man would spot his awakener, looking the strange looking man up and down before realizing what he was. "HOLY SHIT YOU LOOK FUCKED." He cried out before quickly pulling himself from the sarcophagus in fright. The "awakener" had taken the opportunity to pull himself closer as soon as he'd noticed that body was seemingly moving. "What the..." Only to pull his head back in one quick motion as he took note of the red eyes that started looking around. Only to take another step back as the man came flying out of his confinement and screaming out words. For a second or so, Nero was simply standing there with his hands resting on each side of his body whilst trying to process what just happened. The torch was the only source of light and as he took quick note of it, with the addition that it was really just highlighting his scars. The man couldn't help but crack a sinister smirk. Placing most of his body's weight on his right leg, making it appear as if he was limping, while one hand was raised up and extended in a crocked manner towards the red-eyed man. His head would tilt ever so slightly to the side and his jaw slightly open. "Bwraa-eeeiinsss!" Nero would exclaim as he started moving like a zombie towards his new acquaintance. The man stumbled backwards before tripping and falling to the ground on his backside in a wave of shock and confusion. Still attempting to process what was happening, he frantically tried to find some sort of weapon he could use in order to fight back the strange thing. Feeling around the dark stone area, it didn't take long for his fingers to finally came across a lonely brick near him. The man was able to quickly grasp it without hesitation, and with his fingers, threw the brick to the direction of the being, using the noise as well as what the light could show in order to aim. Seeing the situation they were in, with a room as dark as night itself if you were on the wrong side, the brick went by unnoticed the "zombie". The brick came to hit Nero at the side of his face, scraping against his left chin and ear, pulling against the multiple earrings but unsuccessful in tearing them away. "Mother... fucker!" The pain was sudden but lingering and Nero came to start stumbling the across the room with one of his hands holding onto the area. "You hit me in the ear...!" He ended up almost circling the sarcophagus before heading back again, reaching down to grab onto the torch and lift it up as to not only reveal himself more clearly but also the young man. "Who does that... Spirit man." "Says you freak. You need healing?" The man in the red robes asked, picking himself from the ground before dusting himself off. "You just hit me with a brick and now you want to heal me?" Rolling his eyes as Nero's mouth exerted a clicking sound followed by a dry sigh before looking back at the man, only to lower his head in yet another sigh. "You know, you're giving me mixed messages here man." Lifting his head yet again and eyes set on the man once more, "You say healing, but you just as well knock me in the head man." "Piss off, your the one acting all crazy like. Who are you anyway, did my father send you to get me out?" The man asked, shaking off Nero's complaining. Seeing that he still held the pendant in one hand, the man tucked it away into the inside of his robe. As he awaited an answer, the man began to look around the room despite it being so dark. He tapped his foot on the spot, making the room echo with every loud light step he took. Tapping his fingers ever so lightly onto the wounded, Nero had received some scratches but he'd be alright. "Whow, making demands something now aren't ye? Ever heard of common courtesy?" He retorted at first, eyes focused on his hand to check if he'd been bleeding, to which he actually was but nothing to be concerned about. "I wasn't sent here by some old man ye douce... Came here on my own searching for something of value, no one even fucking knows about this place." Nero was speaking nonchalantly, he was more so invested in his own health than that of this stranger. "I read about this place from some boo-... I mean COME ON... Look around you." Stretching his other arm to the side, making it circulate across the room as to highlight that they were currently inside ruins with dusty tomes, symbols and skeletons. "...Wait. This is the place they left me in? H-how did you find this place? Only the Ikinobiru family know about this tomb." The man said in response, gazing around the area as the light lit up certain aspects of the tomb. "How. What do you mean, you read it in a book?" He asked before gripping a fist, his tone becoming more aggressive and straight forward. Traversing through the dark with what appeared to be a dimly lit lamp, Axle struggled to push through the pitch atmosphere, feeling the hard roughness of the stony walls with his hand to navigate. As if a drum were beat, Axle could hear the squabble between two people directly ahead of him, irritating him to the point where he nearly fell partway through. Pushing against the floor, Axle lunged his lamp at the first person he saw, consisting of a tall robed man, "Oh my god, COULD YOU BE ANY LOUDER ASSHOLE?!" "HOW MANY PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE." Getting hit at the back of the head by the new arrival, Nero's head was flung forward and he raised his hands to cover the area which the lamp had made an impact. "Fucking..." He tried to hold it in, but... it didn't work. "FUCKING CUNT MAN...! Holy fucking..." Yet again, Nero found himself stumbling across the room yet again, cursing from left to right. "Mind your language." The man in red robes said, crossing his arms and swing his head left to right. "But I'm serious, first you and now whoever that guy is. How do you know about this tomb?" Looking across from the other side of the room, Axle took a moment to examine the two strangers, taking note of the large sarcophagus and its empty contents out in the open, before making his way down to their level, "Its my job for one, and it wasn't hard to find you with all the shouting. Keep anyone from getting in here they told, and I'm looking at you freak," quickly squinting his eyes at the robed man. Peering at the fact that there are two people in the room and one empty tomb in the middle, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. "But I'm starting to see why now, and I gotta say, this is fucked up," he said nonchalantly. "I don't know what you did, but if you're all the way down here, It can't be good." "Like hell. Bullshit. Whoever you people are, I'll make sure you hang for trespassing the clan's sacred tombs." The man threatened, stomping his foot on the ground. Simultaneously, the tomb around them shook fiercely, as if the man's very step had shaken the earth. Their voices were ringing inside his head, the world was spinning and the pain was pulsating at the back of his head. Nero didn't notice that he'd dropped his torch up until now, making it so that there were now two sources of light inside the ruins, one for each side of the sarcophagus. He could barely register what it was the other two were talking about, all he was focusing on was the throbbing pain. "Fuckin'..." His vocabulary wasn't changing much, but it was certainly a new type of development when considering that all he wanted to do was to get some treasure and be on his way. It wasn't until the sudden stomp that the mage would find himself tripping over and land amongst some of the skeletons. A moment of silence went by as he tried to sort himself, only to end up sitting down on his knees, face against the floor and hands still resting against his neck. Suddenly raising his head as he exclaimed: "FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCKK!" Whether he was the reason for it or just some other type of bad joke, the skeletons inside the room started rattling as he screamed - but returned to "normal" once he'd finished. "Quit your bellyaching," Axle retorted, losing his footing momentarily as the room shook, with dust and gravel sprinkling all across his hair and clothes. As if nearly falling flat first on his face weren't bad enough, Axle grew unsteady at the display playing a short distance away from him, creating an uneasy air the closer we got to the vocal stranger, scoffing with his arms crossed. Shrugging his shoulders, Axle threw both hands on his waist, raising one of them to point at the stranger. "Just relax, look," he paused for a moment, kneeling down to poke him from the back of the head, "no blood, if anything, the only one that came out of this damaged was my lamp, which, your fault by the way, you owe a new one." Lifting the now broken lantern off the ground, Axle glanced at the now-awoken clansman, "not for anything, but this just looks like a hole in the ground, but I'll swing for the fences and give you benefit of the doubt as for why you're here in the first place." "Eh. WAIT. WHAT. WHY ARE YOU TWO HERE THOUGH. YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED MY QUESTION." The man yelled again, still baffled by the fact that two complete strangers, even to one another, were able to find this tomb. As the clansman continued to scream at the two intruders, the pitch-black darkness became less of a problem for the three. Flames suddenly ignited around the room, held up by stone torches in the hands of four tall statues for every corner. They towered over the trio, as the light began to show truly how large the tomb actually was. Light seemed to touch all corners of the tomb which finally gave the two wanderers a perspective of how far they have traveled. The room was like a palace, with sarcophaguses neatly placed next to one another, pointing out from the walls of the tomb. Each one was unique in the way it resembled a person for each, faces of plenty of bearded men and wrinkled woman had been carved into stone that was placed over these containers. It seemed that whatever civilization was here before, must have had some great respect for the dead. The container that this man was found in, however, was significantly different to all the others, as it was placed in the very middle of the tomb. Its cover was bland, a clean plate of stone that simply had some sort of words carved into its surface. "MY FAULT!?! And who cares if it's bleeding or not, it fucking hurt!" Nero exclaimed his growing frustration yet again and pulled himself up as to start making his way to the newcomer. He raised his hands with the intent of grabbing onto the man's robes but stopped midway as the flames around them would alight. The man's gaze would wander the vast hall, not for the sake of its grandeur but for the potential of it. "Eyy'... This might just make a pretty penny after all." A smile spread across his lips as he took a step closer to each of the tombstones, merely walking past the one he'd previously opened as he wasn't able to see the inscriptions earlier. Instead, he prompted to start lightly knocking on various objects and coffins that spread across the room, to check if they were hollow or not. "Oi, dead boy. Know if they stored anything of value in these things?" Nero didn't even look at the man as he spoke, but merely went on with his activities. "I swear, you're persistent if anything else." As light flooded the chamber, it became much more evident as to the uncertainty that clouded him vision, his doubts clearing in unison with the darkness that once decorated this room. Much to his dismay, he was greeted with what, he thought at least, was a large grave site, decorated with numerous glyphs and ceremonial ornaments. "Come on man, not cool. Whatever happened to 'respect the dead'," he murmured, glancing the stranger. "Hey," he snapped back at the clansman, "what the hell is this, who are you?" The man shook his head and sighed, irritated at the two intruders for ignoring him. "No-one ever fucking listens to me." he muttered under his breathe. Leaning down and picking a stone brick from the floor, the man tossed it into the air before catching it with one hand again. Repeating the motion a few times, he caught sight of Nero walking near the graves of the clansmen, squinting hard at the freakish looking figure in the back. Holding it tight so it would not slip out, the man threw the stone hard towards Nero, making it fly across the room with the intent of hitting him on the head. "DON'T. TOUCH. THEM." He ordered at the top of his lungs. Nero had started to turn as the man had begun his assault, eyes turning wide as he raised his hands to cover his face from the incoming brick. Yet in midst of it all, the sound of rattling bones could be heard echoing across the room as one of them suddenly rose from the ground and took the brick head on, literally. Returning to just another pile of bones, now without a skull, it would surely take a moment before the others would return their attention to Nero again. Upon which it'd be revealed that he'd pulled his arms forward and his hands up and down using a hand sign. Nero's opened his mouth, "Come on man, not cool. Whatever happened to 'respect the dead", his tone of voice reeked of sarcasm and made no effort in trying to hide the vexing nature of it. Smirking afterwards before leaning back at one of the coffins. Arms folding back and crossing his chest: "Chill... If they're not going to catch a pretty penny then you will see me touchin' no nothin'. Pinky promise on that one brother." Raising his left pinky finger as he said so, even following it up by waving it towards the awakened man. Rubbing his eyes with one hand while lifting a bone off the ground with the other, Axle paused and took a moment to analyze what had just happened, realizing that there was more to this man than he had originally thought , his eyes wide open at the insinuation of who the roped stranger was. "Pinky Promise he says. Pinky promise this," with a quick flick from his hand, Axle gave Nero the middle finger, jumping across the room from tomb-to-tomb, waltzing up to robed stranger, shrugging his shoulders as he tucked his hands in his pockets, jerking himself upward to meet him face-to-face. "Okay. I dial it back and say your not the complete asshole I thought you were," his tone lit with a newfound sense of fascination, but in equal measure, caution, having had him pegged for a simple thief at first glance, only seeing now that there was more to him that meets the eye. Looking over his shoulder, Axle focused on the other stranger, looking for some explanation as to his predicament. "Yo, dead guy, no wait, ugh...hmm...shit, come to think about it, I don't actually know your name." Seeing that the stone had hit one of the remains of a supposed relative, the red robed man was visibly infuriated with the intruder's actions. Pulling the pendant he held before from inside his jacket, he quickly placed it around his neck before it released a bright flash of red light from his position. As the light faded, a Morningstar mace was revealed to be in the man's right hand, gripping it tightly as if prepared to attack. Pulling his front to the side with the mace in-hand, he quickly spun across with his arm extended with the mace pointing out. In a split second, the mace changed into that of a flail, with a chain that continued to extend from the body in rapid succession. The chain was allowing the morningstar to fly across the room and supposedly hit Nero, with force. Thing was, the mace itself along the way was rapidly increasing in size in order to match the man's own height. From where the robed man was attacking, it looked like a boulder swiftly approaching the crush whoever stood between it and the wall. "DISHONOUR." The man simply cried out after Axle's more calmer response. Unfolding his arms, raising them up whilst leaning his the upper body back as the "monk" flipped him the finger; "Ohh, watch out. When the priest is swearing, the Gods are glaring." The man didn't do much after his supposed rhyme, merely inspecting the two in their actions. Upon which it wasn't difficult to spot the incoming Morningstar, even if it was a sudden change of hostility. Once again, the dead came to his aid. The bones of the skeleton that had lost its skull began to move yet as it made its way to intercept the Morningstar and its intended destination. Yet this time, it did not reanimate itself into its original body, but that of a shield made from the various bones in its collection. In the end, the Morningstar would find itself crashing into the bone "armour" but end up being buried inside its chasm. Nero hadn't moved from the spot, merely returned his arms across his chest as he looked over to the man with the cross: "Common courtesy would suggest that you state your own name first, priest..." Shrugging his shoulders as he continued: "But I guess I can make an exception. Name's Nero Atosaki, travelling Mind-your-own-business." Snickering as he finished replying to the man, looking over to the robed one instead. "And what's your problem? Didn't your parents tell you that you shouldn't throw sharp objects at people? Might end up getting yourself hurt." As the morningstar fell to the ground, the chains from its hand began extracting it back to the hilt. Irritated, the man would simply glance at Nero with a smile, hinting that he may have done something with that one look. Again he tried, repeating the same action in order to hit Nero. "Let's strip you of your magic then." Outstretching his hands, Axle tensed his arms, opening the palm of his hand as he thrust them straight it down with a knife and gesture, releasing a vacuum of air straight at the pair. Using just enough force to draw their attention away from one another, as if to call a ceasefire, the force whipped the air into a powerful whirlwind, scattering the dust and debris all across the chamber. "If we're throwing names out there, mine'd be Axle. Axle Strider. And I'm not a priest, I just happen to look like one. Comes with the territory when your working odd end jobs." Slamming his foot down across the ground, Axle left a small impression on the stone floor, echoing throughout the chamber, "So how about knocking that off and filling some of the blank spaces. I don't even know what to call you," he exclaimed, "cause' you see, I'm having some trust issues with you. So if we're going to make this work, how about giving me a name to put on that pretty face of yours, ok sweetheart." Speaking with a hint of sarcasm, directing his attention to clansman. Irritated that his attack was stopped, the morningstar flair was retracted into its handle, making it a mace once again. "Strange, for a son of lord Ikinobiru, I Would have expected that my name would be all known around the provinces. But if you must, my name is Gai Ikinobiru, heir to the Ikinobiru clan. What you men stand in is the sacred tomb of the Ikinobiru, where we keep our ancestors together." He explained, revealing his true identity. Clapping in an awfully slow and loud fashion as Axle prevented the fight to continue, Nero used his hips to shove himself from the tomb and start making his way over. "Well, you asked for it didn't you? Besides..." Raising his hand to point at the robed man, all the while stopping by the man's supposed tomb: "He started it." His voice spoke of honesty as if he actually believed it to be just so. Yet his ears perked up as the robed man revealed his true nature, raising his hands high up into the hair with his mouth wide open in a moment of surprise. "A noble!?" Lowering both his hands and body forward as if to bow in an exaggerated movement, repeating the movement several times over before his hands stood still in the air with the same expression. But in just a moment's notice, they would drop and his face would show little to no interest in the supposed clansman's words: "Lame... yet it does explain why you're on such an edge... Can't have a find a decent man these days," The man's attention swapping to the man they called Axle, "...ain't that right, False Prophet?" It was obvious that he was merely trying to tick the man off for his own amusement. Clicking his tongue, Axle ran his hand across the back of his head upon hearing Nero's comment, knowing full well he was provoking him. At the moment, he couldn't help but smirk at his remark, insistent not to lose in their little "game" of theirs. "Decent can be subjective, happens only when you need to be." In spite of this, with the revelation now out in the open, a part of the mystery had been established, but only bringing a slew of new questions into light. "Royalty, I can get. The whole 'buried alive' thing you got going on you, no 'decent' guy gets that kind of treatment unless they did something to piss someone off." "Didn't need to piss someone off to be buried alive. The only one who was pissed off was me for what they chose to do." Gai replied, scratching the back of his head as he took a look at the sarcophagus he woke up from. "Your colors are not welcome here Umarekawarun. I ask that you leave and I won't have you executed for trespassing our clan's sacred grounds." he offered to Nero, flicking his head back to see what the mutilated man was doing during their talk. To which it would reveal that Nero was looking back at Gai with a blank expression, the man looked as if he was taking his time processing what the man was suggesting. Tilting his head in an extravagant movement towards Axle, giving him a look that without words screamed: Is this guy for real? Before tilting it back to the robed man in the same fashion. "Okay..." The man started as his hands reached for each other, meeting in front of his chest with his palms meeting together as if he was praying. "I apologize for my untimely arrival and that I stumbled into your resting place and that..." He'd started to tilt his body forward, yet his voice would gradually lower itself the further his bow went and at the end, it would almost go by as a whisper. Before suddenly rising with haste and swinging his arms outwards before exclaiming in an ever louder tone: "You get your shit together... I MEAN COME ON, LOOK AROUND YOU! WE'RE IN A FUCKING RUIN PUNK!?!" He'd taken a few steps back during this, only to circle around the sarcophagus and stand up next to the other two, looking first at Axle: "Can you fucking believe this guy?" Before turning back to Gai, reaching out to snap his fingers in front of the man's face several times over, "No one fucking owns this place dipshit, it's been vacant for the last fucking millennia!" "What? This province belongs to the Ikinobiru Clan imbecile, for an Umarekawarun you aren't very smart." Gai shook his head and sighed. The weapon in his hands allowed the morningstar ball to fall to the ground as the chain was released, letting its thud echo throughout the tomb. "But then again, you Isgardian blue-skins have always been arrogant in your ways." Grasping his own head from both sides whilst gritting his teeth in frustration as he began walking back and forth in a quick motion, Nero couldn't believe what he was hearing. He then made a stop and took a deep breath, hands slowly descending downwards until they found themselves on each side of his hips, "Alright." Raising one of them towards Axle before pointing at Gai, "You take the arms and I'll grab his legs. We're taking him out of here for a reality check." "OH COME ON ON MAN! THIS SHIT AGAIN! REALLY?!" Looking him seriously, in disbelief at the outburst, Don't drag me into this asshole! he thought, sighing halfheartedly, he started to lift his hands up in an open-handed posture, tilting his head sideways as shrugging at the Nero's cry, "Hasn't anyone told you 'show, don't tell', Your as delicate as a fucking bomb, you know that?!" Taking a few steps backs, Axle couldn't believe what he had just heard, but as soon as he did, it was too late to mince words anymore, Gai was bound to lose it again, and if it wasn't them, he'd definitely throw the first blow. Glowing with a luminescent light along the soles of his shoes, Axle kicked off the ground, slamming his hands across the surface of the ground to throw his balance off, the tomb shaking strenuously, the shock reverberating all across the ceiling and walls to the point of dusting off refuse off the statues. Bouncing from the ground, Axle somersaulted across Gai's side, vaulting over toward his back, reaching for his arms. "Wha-HEY HEY WHAT." Gai yelled out in a panic as the both of them grabbed onto him. For sure the guy with the piercings would go ahead with this, but Gai would've thought the other would have some decency. "LET ME GO." He ordered as he began to kick his legs, shaking his body to try and remove himself from their hold. As to be expected, the legs were always the toughest part when carrying a person like this, at least when they were still around and kicking, literally. At first, Nero had managed to get a good hold of the man's legs and started backing to the entrance. But taking one step too quickly with the man still struggling caused him to lose his grip for a moment and Guy managed to get a kick to his stomach, yet there was no visible struggle but more so the sound of cracking bones. Poking through his light clothing was the sight of a collarbone, something which Nero didn't notice for another few steps before catching a glint at it and back the others: "Don't worry about that... That ain't mine anyway." He took another good hold of Gai's legs and picked up the pace as they were about to pass through the door. "UNHAND ME HEATHEN." "Heathen my ass. Agh...quit...fidgeting around...you should be thanking us. Beats the hell out of staying in a cave." With shaking and wobbling taking place, Axle in the commotion lost his footing, hitting his head directly against the rigid stone surface of tomb's floor, sending a burning sensation barreling across the entirety of his skull and shoulders. With Gai still skirmishing in his arms, his arms began to bulge significantly, as a result of magic being at play. Breathing with slow, deep breaths, Axle slowly began to lift Gai straight above his head. And with a single sway from his hips, Axle threw most of his weight into barreling him over his shoulder, lunging not only Gai, but Nero, who was still holding onto his legs at that moment, through the air with an overhanded throw, sending them spiraling head-first through the door—breaking the hard entryway and straight across the marsh terrain, landing straight against the ruins scattered across the local. "There...hugh...your welcome your highness." Feeling the weight of Gai suddenly increasing and his body being jerked forward, Nero groaned as he had been forced to look away from where he was heading and towards the others inside. "What the hell man!?" Seeing Axle make his way up again didn't make much of an impression at first, well, not until the man's intentions became clear. But by that time it was already too late. "Oi oi oi oi oi oi OI! WAIT!" The mage attempts at protesting were left unanswered and were instead flung through the ruins and ended up crashing into a wall in the marches outside. The sound of bones cracking could be heard yet again, revealed to be a ribcage that he'd strapped across most of his stomach and chest area as he struggled to stand up and the pieces fell through his shirt. Holding onto his head with one hand and the other searching frantically for support as his entire world was spinning out of control. "I MAY LOOK LIKE THE PART BUT I CAN STILL DIE YOU ASS!" Nero exclaimed back towards the ruins, only to stumble back onto the wall, using it for support as he was gliding down into a sitting position. With a head-spinning, water and all matter of filth up to his waist and nothing but a wall to keep him standing, this was certainly far from what he'd imagined his day would end up when he threw out his socks this morning. Gai got up from the ground and dusted his appearance, looking around to see where they brought him. This was surely the province, but much more quieter than usual, as if abandoned. Vegetation seemed to cover the tomb's entrance as well as plenty of shrubs and plants growing here and there. He tried to process where he was, but he just couldn't do it, this place was not familiar to him, nor was the magical energy in the air the same when he was buried underground. "...So where am I?" "Oh please, with what you could do, doubt you'd die that easily." Pointing his arm toward the tomb's entrance, a bright ray of light escaped from the grasp of his hand, blasting directly against the face of the mountainside, escalating a rock slide to drag down along the tomb's slope, rocks and boulders falling directly on top of the entrance. With the only passageway all but destroyed, any details or signs of it marking the scene were all but gone, with the exception of ruins loitering about. "Welcome to the year X943, I guess you're a man out of time huh?" Clapping his hands to shake off the dust, he patted his clothes, starting with his chest before working his way done to his pants, examining the area as his eyes roamed around the deteriorating buildings, hinting at a village or civilization once inhabited these regions, but were long gone. "I take it this is home, but not much left of it anyway." "Like hell it would..." Nero announced from his seat of mud, his head starting to see fewer stars circling around his head as he observed the two men from his position. Only to witness the ruins falter right before his eyes, raising his arms and reaching them forward as he was trying to grab onto something with his fingers. "Noooo... The money!" slightly upset over the fact that the contents of those ruins would be taken from him, but with an attention span as short as a cigarette, he quickly lost interest upon hearing Axel's furthered comments. "Wait... you serious?" Gai looked around confused, looking at the tomb from the outside after how many years. Holding his hand, he began counting his fingers as he tried to make sense of how long its been. But even so, he repeated counting over and over again trying to see that what he got may have been a mistake. "No, this can't be right. It's the X300's. Isn't it? X943?". No matter how many times Gai counted, he still wouldn't believe that he had been buried for 600 years underground in his family's tomb. Had no-one come back to save him after that battle? Was there no-one left to do so? "Bullshit. You're going to tell me I've been down there for 600 years?" he yelled at the two in a shocked, vicious tone. "If this is your idea of a joke than you seriously need to get your standards in check." With how Gai was feeling, it would only exacerbate things he was left in this state. Glancing at the landscape, Axle, knocked a large pillar of stone that was intertwined with foliage and vines at the side of once visible tomb entrance, dusting the surface before sitting down to explain things. "This ain't a joke, but the hard truth brother," he murmured, letting go a small breathe in between sentences as he swapped glances at Nero. "You see, we didn't there anyone down there, imagine our surprise when we found you the way we did." His attention turned over to what little remained of Gai's home, now being perfectly clear that more than half of a millennium had transpired since this village had been inhabited by any intelligent creature. "All in all, nothing's changed that much. It's been the same routine topside, a couple wars here and there, we got vehicles now, that's neat. There was like a black wizard 200 odd years back, genocide after that. A couple MORE wars. My birthday last year. And peace ever since." "Peace doesn't exist, the true definition of peace is life without conflict." Gai mumbled to himself in response of Axle's recount. "One year of peace is one more year closer to the beginning of another war." Looking at the pillar that Axle knocked over, Gai proceeded to approach the stone support and study the bricks, running his finger over the indents and chippings that time had eroded it with. Through the vines that managed to stay latched on, Gai's eyes opened wide as if he recognised something underneath, brushing the vegetation off with the palm of his hand. What appeared under was a large engraving of the Ikinobiru Clan's mon, having survived all this time to be covered by the reach of nature. Gai's heart sank into his stomach at the sight of this, realising that this may be his home now after how much time. For once, Nero wasn't actually speaking back but merely listening to the two of them as steadily started to lift himself up from the ground. Looking back for a moment to see the broken ribcage lying next to him, Nero sighed as now he'd have to get another - that it was difficult but more so to it being a hassle. He remained quiet as he approached the others, giving Axle a quick glance but didn't say anything. Walking up next to Gai as he was processing the reality, Nero couldn't help himself from raising one of his hands and placing it on the man's shoulder. What he was going through could certainly not be an easy thing... but he just had to ask: "So... How does it feel to be over 600 years old?" Gai turned his head slightly to Nero, shrugging with a quick smirk, "How does it feel talking to one?" His expression was blank at first, it wasn't the response he expected. But his eyes quickly regained their spirit and white teeth would surface as began to chuckle. Looking towards the yonder as he gave the man a few pats before leaving it to rest at his shoulder for another few moments, "Not too bad old man, not too bad." "On the bright side, you don't look a day over 40," grabbing Gai from his arms, he lifted him back on his feet, giving him some manner of comfort for the cold revelation. Coughing a few times, Axle fastened his hands around one another, folding them along his chest as he peered over Nero, then quickly back to the man out of time. "What's done is done, you can't do anything about it. But you can do something about what comes after." Turning his back against the two, Axle began pointing toward he opposite direction, hinting at what lied beyond the forest. "There's a pub a couple ways down, decent enough to get a couple drinks. Nero owes me a new lamp anyway." "A COUPLE WAYS DOWN!?!" Nero yelled out, not even thinking of the fact that it was right into Gai's ear. Nevermind the dramatic speech that he'd wanted to make a comment about, it was Axle's complete disregard for basic geographical distances. "Mate, hold the lacrima ye? The closest pub is 40 minutes away from here... and that's on a fucking vehicle mate." Gai rubbed the side of his head after Nero yelled next to him, quickly pushing his arm into the mage to knock him off balance. "...Isn't the Umarekawaru Province down there? I don't think it'd be wise for me to walk into hostile territory." Gai asked with a bland expression on his face. "Come on, its been like, what, 600 years since you've been here, what's the worst that can happen. Plus, you got anything better to do?" Peeking left and right, then across from Gai's shoulder, Axle threw the Lacrima into the air, later balancing it on top of his finger as they began to stroll down into town. "So a fake priest, a zombie, and mummy walking into a bar, it's like the end of a bad joke ain't it?" Patting Gai around the back, he gave him a forceful push forward to get his moving, shoving the Nero's Lacrima into his chest for him to hold, hoping for him to point them the way. However, hearing the name of region they were in brought up a sense of foreboding premonition, Umarekawaru..., he thought, juggling the name around in his head for a few minuted before turning over to Nero, glancing at him for a couple of seconds, as if to insinuate if there was some greater meaning to the name. "Umarekawaru, I don't know anything about the place, but I have heard about some killer lady by the same name if that matters. Real famous around these parts." "...It's the province that borders mine. If memory serves me right, then they're one of the clans that planned to invade the Ikinobiru Province." Gai answered, walking nervously, "It's been a while since I've strayed so far from home, most of my work before being trapped there was to help keep the populace loyal to our clan". Gai could feel the strange atmosphere as if something around him increased, causing him to swipe his hand around his position as to see what it was. The thin air of the tomb was hardly something amazing to wake up to, but once thrown out was Gai impressed with how the world has come. "Umare this... Umare that- Umarewhateverthefuck it or she is can stuff it!" Nero announced with a sense of pride in his voice, like a child who knew exactly what he was on about. Yet while it first appeared like he didn't catch a whiff of what they were referring to, his continues babbling proved otherwise. "It's not like they're the only ancients still lurking about. But they're nothing special, really." Feeling restless, Nero went on to casually open his the bag resting at his waist, from which some of the "powder" inside would start hoover in front of him. As he moved his hands about, so too did the powder turn into different toys or general objects of today's day and age - yet done so in the form of bones. "Why would they be mad anyway..." Not looking back at the others as he continued, "You lost right? Gone for 600 years would guarantee and none of them would know your face anyway." Pausing his creations for a moment as the bones would show the form of a skeletal mask, looking over to Gai suddenly. "Though I'd change the name if I were you... To be on the safe side after all." Gai rolled his eyes at Nero and let out an irritated sigh before shaking his head. "Exactly, I've been gone for 600 years. How am I to know what's happened between the clans since then. Have relations gotten better or not? Have some of them been dissolved or still remain? I still don't even know if my clan is in the province yet." Upon hearing Nero's suggestion, Gai's head perked up and looked back to where he thought the capital was, raising an eyebrow with an intrigued groan. "I guess I should though, can never be too careful. Any suggestions?" he asked as he looked to Axle and Nero. Taking a short moment to think as they continued walking towards their designated area, Nero went on to display several names using the powder but getting rid of them all the same. It wasn't until the seventh or so that his eyes seemed to sparkle as he looked over at Gai and Axle, moving and expanding the powder into big letters in front of them. "Alistair McMarvelous!" Nero thought the name sounded perfect, like naming a pet or a being of immense power. "I would rather take Moxie over that any day." Gai said, shooting down Nero's suggestion. Grunting at his denial, Nero went on to murmur to himself as he continued to create various art forms with his powder. Repeating the words of the man reborn in a low, mocking tone "I would rather take Moxie over that any day." Head shaking as he spoke, "It's a fucking girl's name anyway..." "Which is why I'd take it over whatever you just suggested." Gai said as he rolled his eyes, "What about Atwell Hill?" "That sounds dumb. It's like you'd name yourself something meaning "Hill near a spring" or "Man from the Hill". Which for the record, you came from underneath one, alright?" Nero was quick to jab back at the man, being all too keen on bickering for having his suggestion dismissed and mocked. "Ooo someone's salty. All that brazen talk back in the tomb and you can't take rejection." Gai crossed his arms in amusement. "Alright then, come up with a name that doesn't sound dumb, smartass." "You had your chance..." The man replied, but moments later, his eyes sparkled yet again. "No wait! I got one!" Nero started rummaging around his pockets, be it from his pants or inside his jacket. "Where did I put that damn..." It would appear that the name must've been written down or something from an earlier point, even without his hands used to manipulate the powder, it too had started making up all kinds of shapes and letters. "I FOUND IT!" From the left side of jacket, Nero reached out for something inside it - only to look over to at Gai with a bland expression which was accompanied by the universal sign of a flipped finger. The same being for the powder next to him. Gai shrugged while holding a satisfied smirk, "Your really not helping your case whatsoever. So does this mean I've won?" "Either case, getting a pet might actually do you some good, it'll make you less of a monster. I mean, If I left you on your own, you'd probably start picking fights with girls," he said ironically, brushing up against Gai as he nudged him across his side with his elbow. After crossing over a reasonable distance, they came over a large hill overlooking the town, lit up brightly as it brimmed with life straight ahead. "Monster? Excuse you? What have I done to be called such." Gai asked with a surprised tone. As they watched over the town, Gai covered his eyes from the bright sun since his eyes hadn't adjusted from the tomb. From above, the town looked quite small compared to the ones he travelled through as a kid, but it must be because of the changing times. After all, six centuries did pass since he was gone. "Got it." Gai snapped his fingers, "Alexander Maximilian Marquise." "Why so pompous?" Asked Nero, raising an eyebrow at the given name. "During our talk I was limiting myself down to five names: Iskariot, Gai Diyos, Guy Guinto, Mago Hogi and of course, Alexander Maximilian Marquise." Gai explained, still shading his eyes from the bright sun above their heads, "Again I thought, Iskariot is a pretty dumb name and I would rather neck myself than walk around being known as that. Mago Hogi, Gai Diyos and Guy Guinto are pretty good too, but Alexander Maximilian Marquise was the one that stood out the most." Nero just kept staring at the man's logic, let alone for the names he'd try and go for. When Gai had finished speaking, Nero's head would jolt forward ever so slightly, emitting barf making it appear as if he's trying to hold himself from puking. "Oh man, your sense of name are... oof... so very bad." Leaning down and grabbing hold of his knees for support, Nero would go on to fake heavy breathing and again, trying to hold in the need to puke. Gai shook his head and laughed, "Nu-uh. I've got pretty good standards if I'm going to avoid walking around being called 'Iskariot'. Can't say the same with your parents if their going to give their son the name 'Nero' though." Category:GuyCivic Category:ComicMaster619 Category:Role-Plays